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Monday, April 11, 2011

chapter eleven, page three

As the door of the change room clicked behind me, the hum-drum flavour to my emotions left. There hanging before my eyes were several beautiful dresses. The first dress I saw was a deep mauve colour. The spaghetti straps were studded with rhinestones. The front of the dress was gathered in a couple of spots along the front of the dress giving the illusions of diamond shapes. The other dress hanging behind it was a bright ruby red with tiny white and yellow flowers scattered over it. I reached for its flowing skirt to see it better.

Go upstairs and put on the red one Cathie.

Without any warning Mitch’s words assaulted me. I closed my eyes and he was standing in front of me with his dress pants, collared shirt and tie. I took a deep breath.

Then Quinn’s voice broke open my image as he spoke in French to the female attendant. I began to remove my blouse when the black sexy number from the window slid over the top of my change room door.

“You never guess what the nice lady chose for you to try next.” He spoke with a sultry lilt.

“No thank you”, I said as I slipped on the mauve dress. It was silk lined and felt smooth sliding up over my hips and into place. The zipper was high in the back which made it nearly impossible to do by myself. I wondered if they invented women’s dresses like that on purpose. I do not recall any men’s clothing that has zippers in the back in hard to reach places. It’s a conspiracy.

I casually opened the change room door to see Quinn perched against the wall once again looking like a first-place prize. He jumped towards me with his mouth gaping open.

“You look fantastic.”

I attempted to slow his approach with my hands, only he wasn’t focused on my hands obviously. He enclosed me into his arms and began to waltz me around the tiny space between the mirror and the change room.

“Quinn, stop please. I am not even fully done up.”

His dance step paused. Then his penetrating look sunk deep within my eyes. I saw a twinkle in his eyes as the florescent lights bounced off their caramel colour. His hand slid upwards on my back until it was hovering over of my open zipper.

“I would help you out with that Cherie, but might I suggest you try on the ...”

I shoved him back a step or two. “I already told you I am not wearing the black dress!”

Instead of shock covering his face, he slowly looked down at the ground. A tiny dimple caressed his cheek. “I was actually hoping you would try the red one on. This dress doesn’t have enough sway to it when you dance with me.”

Embarrassed, I crawled back into my little changing den and quickly removed the mauve dress. As I gazed upon the red dress hanging off the satin hanger I was immediately transported back to my home in Canada.

‘Cathie, you need to stop worrying about these things and leave them to me.’ Mitch said as he fiddled with his tie.

‘I’m trying to leave them with you but you aren’t doing anything about it.’ I snapped back.

‘How do you know I am not doing anything about it? Just because you don’t see it, Love, doesn't mean it isn’t happening.’ Mitch gave me his winning grin, which only fuelled my anger more.

Just as I opened my mouth to give him another dose of my wisdom, he stepped towards me. He had me backed up against the counter top in our kitchen. I was his prisoner. His tall stature lowered slightly so he could whisper against my neck. ‘Let’s not think about money issues anymore tonight. I have plans for you Mrs. Bellamy.’

He straightened up and looked me square in the eyes. ‘Now go upstairs and dig your red party dress out from your closet. It is your job to put it on and get ready. We are going out for an evening of fine food and friends. There will be no more worrying. Now go! The sooner you get the dress on, the sooner I can take it off later.’